The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken (The SOB Overview)
The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken (The SOB Overview)George Gershwin Theatre, New York, NY
As the celebration for the fifth anniversary of Broadway's Wicked continues, Monday night treated fans of the musical to a benefit reading of the tuner's very first draft. Cleverly entitled The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken, the evening served as a fundraiser for the New York Restoration Project.
As entertaining as the evening was -- particularly with previous Elphabas (Stephanie J. Block and Shoshana Bean) and Glindas (Jennifer Laura Thompson and Kate Reinders) mixing it up with the likes of wannabe Madame Morribles (Joy Behar), Boqs (Mark Indelicato), Wizards (George Wendt) and Fiyeros (Daniel Reichard and Matthew Settle) -- it was clear to any Wicked fan that when all was said and done, Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, who composed the score and wrote the book, respectively, made the right decisions on what to excise and what to keep.
Although not everyone was in finest of voice, Block and Thompson proved yet again why they were such naturals for their roles -- and remember, Block tackled the role of Elphaba in early readings prior to Idina Menzel taking over the role for the show's Broadway debut.
There were plenty of ad-libbed moments, ranging from comments on how it was painfully obvious why something had long since been altered to the political. Mario Cantone compared the old goat that is Wicked's Dr. Dillamond to John McCain, while Behar, in delivering Madame Morrible's screed on Elphaba, threw in a reference to Sarah Palin by adding, "this witch, this hockey mom." Another ad lib came from Wendt. When he hit the stage, one woman in the audience found it necessary to shout, "Norm!" to which he responded by simply saying, "Edna!" -- alluding to his current gig in Broadway's Hairspray.
If there was one major highlight, it came from a surprising source -- Mario Cantone. Known in part for his impersonations of both Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, the actor singlehandedly stole the show when he came out to pinch hit for Glinda midway through the performance. In a little tête-à-tête with Block, who made her Broadway debut as Minnelli in The Boy From Oz, Cantone momentarily dished Lizaesque before launching into his own hilarious rendition of "Popular." He was, in a word, priceless.
The evening also offered the adoring crowd an opportunity to salute Schwartz and Holtzman, who took to the stage at the reading's close. Holtzman graciously deflected the applause toward "Wicked" author Gregory Maguire, while Schwartz offered that he's looking forward to celebrating Wicked's success yet again in another five years.
I hope to be there to cheer them on yet again.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Anniversary, Benefit, Broadway, Gregory Maguire, Mario Cantone, New York Restoration Project, Stephanie J. Block, Stephen Schwartz, The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken, Wicked, Winnie Holtzman
posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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